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PROFILE: Breaking Through: Margie Teller, Part 2

Traders Magazine Online News, October 6, 2017

Kara Grygotis

In this second part of last week's contributed article shared with Traders Magazine, Trading Technologies' Kara Grygotis interviews Margie Teller, a former CME floor trader who discusses being an author and her philanthropic efforts.

Part One can be seen here

Kara: In addition to Friends for the Cure, your foundation for diabetes research, what other projects do you have in flight?

MargieI just finished a novel titled Front Runner, a financial intrigue story with a touch of romance. I’ve been working on it for just about 13 years. It is now officially a period piece. So that is done, though it’s not published yet. And the thing that’s really taking up a lot of my time now is a TV pilot I’m working on about the trading floor from 1986 to probably about 2005. I’ve been working on that for about 18 months. The pilot should be written within the next six weeks or so, which I’m excited about.

Kara: That’s pretty cool.

Margie: And then we’re doing it on spec, so we’ll see where it goes. If anybody has stories, contact me. Because there’s nothing better than the real thing. The truth of the trading floor is definitely much more interesting than any fiction you could create.

Kara: That’s exciting. I’m sure there are plenty of interesting stories that would make for good TV. Do you have any advice for someone transitioning out of trading?

Margie: It’s a really tough transition unless you have…the means. My advice would be to follow something that you really, really always wanted to do. And do that. Follow your heart. Do things you never thought you’d do. Because for those of us from the floor, it’s very, very hard to work for somebody once you’ve been on the trading floor.

Kara: I can imagine.

Margie: You’re not really allowed to call your boss the names that we called each other down there. The other advice would be, if you can do it, have some sort of company where you’re in charge. The thing that most people from the floor don’t realize is that they were running a business. You ran a real business. You had payroll and you had people. You have a skill set that you don’t know you have.

Kara: So you just finished writing a book. Are you reading anything particularly interesting?

Margie: Well, I love trashy novels. I also just read a book about Russia, about when we put the Magnitsky Rule in effect. And that book was really, really interesting. If I could remember the name, I’d tell you.

Kara: I can look it up. [The book referenced is Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man’s Fight for Justice by Bill Browder.] What was the thought that ran through your head when you first heard the news about the floors closing?

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